Apparatus for securing together the blades and handles of hollow handled knives



2 Sheets-Sheet l C R. MOON APPARATUS FOR SECURING TOGETHER THE BLADES AND HANDLES OF HOLLOW HANDLED KNIVES Filed July 23, 1931 June 28, 1932.

llllll June 28, c R MOQN 1,864,846

APPARATUS FOR SECURING TOGETHER THE BLADES AND HANDLES 0F HOLLOW HANDLED KNIVES Filed July 25, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f I INVENTOR. l ,3, 010K155 fifloam T? mm W ,l L L W M ATTORNEYS.

the shank of the blade.

Patented June 28, 1932 rrss CHARLES R. MOON, OF MUNCIE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOB TO ONTARIO MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF Ii/IUNCEE, I'NDEANA, A CORPORATION" APPARATUS FOR SECURING TOGETHER THE BLADES AND HANDLES OF HOLLOW HAND-LED KNIVES Application filed July 23,

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for securing together the blades and handles of hollow handled knives and is particularly useful in the manufacture of table knives having hollow silver handles and steel blades. v

In the manufacture of such knives, the hollow handle is first formed. A piece of fusible material such as solder is then inserted therein through the opening left for the blade shank. The shank of the blade is then inserted through the said opening and the handle is heated to melt the fusible material, thus causing the material to flow about When cooled, the said material solidifies and firmly grasps the shank within the handle. Heretofore, the heating operation has been performed by grasping the blade of an assembled knife in a vise or other grasping device with the blade pointed downward and the handle at the top and then manually playing a torch upon the handle to melt the fusible material. This operation requires the careful attention 5 of a skilled operator for each knife and only a limited number can be produced by one such operator in a given time. Furthermore, there is no uniformity in the treatment of the individual knives, some may be overheated with a consequent waste of time and fuel, some may be underheated with a consequent failure to secure the blade properly within the handle.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for performing the heating operation, by means of which each knife receives exactly the same degree of heating and in which this degree may be predetermined so that the close attention'of a skilled operator is not required except in the united adjustment of the apparatus.

This object is attained by the use of a con tinuous conveyor having attachments each adapted to carry an assembled knife at a uniform speed past a heating apparatus which may be adjusted to give the proper degree of heating in the time required for a knife to pass. When the speed of the conveyor and the intensity of the heating have once been 1981. Serial No. 552,699.

established, each knife receives exactly the same treatment. The process and apparatus may then be carried'out by an operator having just sufiicient skill to place the knives properly in the conveyor attachments.

Another feature of the invention consists in the arrangement of the heating apparatus to heat the handles progressively from the top down. This is important in securing the proper melting of the fusible material within the handle.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of means for chilling the blade adjacent the handle to prevent flow of the fusible material through the shank opening in the handle. Heretofore, there has always been a certain amount of the fusible material which escapes in this manner, congeals on the blade and must be removed by a subsequent operation.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of means for cooling the handles immediately after the heating operation so that the fusible material is quickly set and the knives may be removed from the conveyor without excessive delay. This permits the conveyor to be shortened materially.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of ejector mechanism for removing the knives from the conveyor attachments, and in the specific form of this mechanism.

Other objects and features of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred form of the apparatus by means of which the invention is performed. Figure 2 is an elevational view of the same. Figure 3 is an enlarged elevational view of a part of the conveyor and the knife-holding attachments carried thereby. Figures 4- and 5 are sectional views taken on the lines M and 5-5 respectively of Figure 3. Figure 6 is an elevational view of an assembled blade and'handle showing in broken lines the position of the blade shank and the piece of fusible material within the handle before heating.

In the drawings there is shown a bed plate 3.

10 supported upon legs 11 and carrying at one end a motor 12. The said motor is connected by a coupling 13 to a shaft 14 supported upon bearings 15 upon the bed plate 10. The shaft 14 has splined thereto a roller 16 faced with leather or other suitable friction material and provided with a hub 17 having an annular groove engaged by a collar or yoke 18. The yoke 18 has a portion 19 extending upwardly and threadedly engaging a screw shaft 20 which is rotatably supported by lugs 21 6X- tending upwardly from the bearings 15. The screw shaft 20 may be rotated by means of a knob 22 attached ther to and when. so

rotated it serves to move the yoke 13 and roller 16 longitudinally of the shaft 14.

1/ supported upon bearings 25 in turn ca 'r'ec upon the bed plate 10. The shaft carries a worm 26 engaging a worm wheel carried by a horizontal cross shaft 28 suitably supported upon the bed plate 10. The shaft 28 carries a worm 29 engaging a worm wheel 30 carried upon a vertical shaft The shaft 31 is supported by a step bearing 32 and a bearing bracket 33. both carried upon the bed plate 10. By this means, the motor 12 drives the sh aft 31 through the 1'110- tional engagement of the roller 16 and disc 23. The speed of rotation of the shaft 31 may be adjusted by varyiin the position of the roller 16 upon the shaft 14 by means of the knob 22.

The shaft 31 carries a pair of sprockets about each of which there is trained a sprocket chain 35. At the opposite end of the bed plate 10 there is a steo bearing 36 and a bear-- ing bracket 37, both mounted upon an adjustable block 38 carried upon the bed plate 10. The said step bearing and bracket support a vertical shaft 39 having a pair of sprockets 40 freely mounted thereon. The chains 35 are trained about the sprockets 40. Guide mem bers 41, carried upon support members 42, support and guide the chains between the sprockets 34 and 40.

Each of the chains 35 has attached thereto at regular intervals attachments 43, each provided with a slot 44 open toward the direction of movement of the chains. Each attachment is also provided with a leaf spring 45 adapted to yieldingly hold the blade 46 of a knife in the slot 44. Each of the attachments 43 on the upper chain 35 is provided with an inverted L-shaped member 4 upon which there is pivotally mounted a pair of chills 48. The said chills are provided with recesses 49 adapted to grasp the blade of the knife immediately beneath the handle 50. The chills are movable about their pivot pins 41 to permit the knives to be withdrawn horizontally and this movement is limited by a pair of stop pins 52 carried by the member 47 The guide member 41 beneath the lower chain has formed thereon a horizontal lip 41a extending beneath the attachments 43 throughout that part of their path of travel in which the knives are to be carried. The said lip serves as a trackway and support for the tip of the knife blade.

A pair of gas burners 53 are mounted upon supports 54 above and on either side of the rear flights of the chains 35 and are supplied with fuel by conduits 55. The said burners are fitted with openings 56 arranged, as best shown in Figure 2, upon a line sloping downwardly from right to left, and from each of which a jet of flame 57 may be played upon the handles of the knives as they are transported by the chains 35. A pair of resiliently-mounted guide members 58 are suitably supported adjacent the burners 53 to engage the chills 48 and hold the same in engagement with the knife blades as they pass the burners.

Above and to the left of the burners 53 there are mounted upon brackets 59 a pair of pipes 60 having perforations 61 therein. The said pipes are arranged on either side of the path of travel of the knife handles 50 and are connected by a conduit 62 in the form of a yoke beneath which the said knife handles may pass. The said conduit is connected to a conduit 63 through which air is supplied under pressure. The said air through the perforations 61 upon the passing knife handles.

The shaft 31 has keyed thereto a sprocket 64, placed between the two sprockets 34. The shaft 39 has keyed thereto at the same elevation a sprocket 65 of smaller diameter than the sprocket 64. A support chain 66 is trained about the two sprockets 64 and 65 and is also trained about a pair of tightening pulleys 67 carried upon a casting 68 adjustably mounted upon the bed plate 10 and serving as a tightening device to preserve the proper tension in chain 66. The shaft 39 also has keyed thereto a pair of collars 69 each carrying two radial arms 7 0. 'By this construction, the shaft 39 is rotated in timed relation to the shaft 31 but at a higher speed. The arms 70 are moved at a higher speed than the chain 35 but are so timed that one of the arms strikes each knife at a predetermined point in its travel. As will best be seen in Figure 2, the upper arms 70 are at the proper elevation to strike the handles of the knives while the lower arms 70 strike the backs of the blades. When struck by the arms 70, each knife is moved horizontally against the action of the springs 45 out of the slots 44. When so moved, the handles of the knives are grasped by a pair of spring clamping jaws 71 and the blades are grasped by a. similar but smaller pair of jaws 7 2. The said jaws are carried upon a support 73 fastened to the bed plate 10. Since the chills 48 are free to move about their pivot pins at this point, they offer no resistance to the is blown ejection of the knives from the attachments. When grasped by the jaws 71 and 72, the knives are further moved by the arms out of the path of the oncoming attachments and, upon reaching the ends of the said jaws, the knives are discharged down a chute 74 into a suitable container.

In the operation of the apparatus, the hollow handles 50 and blades 46 are first assembled as shown in Figure 6 with the shank 7 5 of the blade inserted within the handle and with a piece of fusible material 7 6 previously placed within the handle. The amount of the fusible material required is so great and the cross section of the opening through which it is inserted is so small that the piece of material must be relatively long and, therefore, extends well up into the handle. The fusible material can be most quickly melted by beginning the application of heat at the top and progressing downwardly.

The assembled knives are next inserted in the attachments 43, as best shown in Figures 2 and 3, in an upright position, blades down, and with the tips of the blades travelling upon the lip 41a. In this position, they are transported past the burners 53 and handles are heated to melt the fusible material. The arrangement of the flame ets 57 in a sloping line insures that the heating of the fusible material progresses from the top down and, therefore, takes place as rapidly as possible. The speed of the conveyor chains is regulated by the knob 22 and the intensity of the flame is regulated by suitable control of the fuel supply to give exactly the most efficient and economical rate of heating.

As the knives pass the burners, the chills 48 are engaged by the resiliently-mounted guide members 58 and are pressed against the blade immediately beneath the handle. The said chills are relatively heavy and are made of a material having a relatively high specific heat so that the temperature of that part of the blade grasped by the chills is maintained at a low enough degree to immediately congeal any of the fusible material that might otherwise escape from the handle.

As the knives pass the air pipes 60, they are cooled by the jets of air blown therefrom so that the fusible material is completely solidified and the handle is cooled sufliciently for manual handling before the knives reach the ejector arms 70. Upon reaching said arms, they are discharged from the attachments as previously described.

From the foregoing description, it will be evident that, once the rate of heating is properly adjusted, a large number of knives may be soldered in a given time without other operating attention than that required to place the knives in the attachments.

Many of the mechanical details of the apparatus herein described may be varied without departing from the broader aspect of the invention as defined in the following claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. In apparatus for securing together theblades and handles of hollow handled knives,- the. combination of a continuous conveyor, attachments carried thereby, each adapted to yieldingly grasp an assembled knife blade and handle, heating apparatus adjacent said conveyor for heating saidknives to solder said blade and handle together, and an arm movable in timed relation to the travel of said conveyor to strike each knife at a predetermined point in its travel after the heating operation to remove the same from the yielding grasp of said attachments.

2. In apparatus for securing together the blades and handles of knives, the combination of a continuous conveyor, attachments carried thereby, each having a slot therein within which the blade of an assembled knife may be placed, said slots being open in the direction of travel of said conveyor, a spring secured to each attachment for yieldingly holding said blade therein, means adjacent said conveyor for heating said knives for soldering together the assembled blades and handles, and an arm movable in timed rela tion to the movement of said conveyor and at a higher speed, said arm being positioned to strike said knives at a predetermined point in their travel after the soldering operation to move the same out of said slots against the action of said springs.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

CHARLES R. MOON. 

